The American Library Association defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” The ability to find, evaluate and synthesize information in a digital world with massive amounts of information has become a key skill in today’s workplace as is the need to communicate and collaborate using online technologies. There is often an assumption that students who have grown up with these technologies are adept with them. However, research often shows that a person’s age has little to do with their comfort level using technology and rather on the need or desire to interact with these technologies on a regular basis.

To learn more about digital literacy skills and how to integrate them into the curriculum, check out these resources:

JISC Developing students’ digital literacy
Educause Faculty Digital Fluencies and Frameworks
Deakin University Library’s Elements of Digital Literacy